Palmer grilling delayed until next week

A judge is considering whether to give Clive Palmer an extended reprieve about claims he used his failed Queensland Nickel business to bankroll other companies and his political party.

Lawyers for QN's general purpose liquidator FTI Consulting were scheduled to grill Mr Palmer on Thursday about how the company was run before it collapsed in January last year, with debts of about $300 million.

But the Federal Court on Wednesday heard Mr Palmer would be attending a funeral on Friday and wasn't required until February 15.

The mining magnate and former MP's lawyer, Nick Ferrett, has also filed two interlocutory applications to adjourn the questioning until after a five-day trial listed to begin on February 27.

Justice John Reeves reserved his decision on Wednesday afternoon.

During the hearing, Mr Ferrett argued that ordering Mr Palmer to attend the Federal Court matter ahead of the impending trial was inconvenient.

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Mr Palmer, he told the court, was a crucial witness, would be "heavily involved" in the proceedings and needed to be available to instruct his legal team.

"We are getting ready for a difficult trial," he said.

Former Queensland solicitor-general Walter Sofronoff QC, for FTI, however, told the court the only inconvenience to Mr Palmer was the funeral and that arrangements had be made so he could attend.

Mr Ferrett also made technical submissions about the way in which Mr Palmer had been ordered to produce documents and appear for questioning, saying they weren't made correctly.

Queensland Nickel's demise left about 800 Townsville refinery workers without jobs, and the federal government was forced to step in to cover $70 million in unpaid entitlements.

In a damning report to creditors last April, FTI said there was evidence to suggest Mr Palmer had been acting as a shadow director at Queensland Nickel, and had used the company as a piggy bank for his business empire.

It detailed transactions worth more than $200 million to other Palmer entities in the six years before the nickel company went belly up.

FTI said some of those transactions appeared to be "uncommercial or unreasonable" and not in the interests of Queensland Nickel.

When Mr Palmer does front court, it is expected Mr Sofronoff will question him about a $21.5 million payment QN made to the former MP's Palmer United Party.

Mr Palmer has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and has denied acting as a shadow director after he resigned as a registered director on his election to federal parliament.

While his former boss won't have to appear before next week at the earliest, QN's former chief financial officer Daren Wolfe is due to front court on Thursday.